I'm reading "Car-Rental Companies Are Ruining EVs/Surprise electric vehicles are not ambassadors for change" by Saahil Desai (The Atlantic).
June 17, 2023
"Three days earlier, I had booked Hertz’s cheapest option.... What I did not consider was an electric car...."
"With no forewarning, no experience driving an EV, and virtually no guidance, what was supposed to be a restful trip upstate was anything but. Just a few hours of highway driving would sap the battery, leaving me and my friends scrounging for public chargers in desolate parking lots, the top floors of garages, and hotels with plugs marked for guests only. It was a crash course in EVs for four people who had never heard of CCS versus CHAdemo, the 80/20 rule, and Level 3 chargers. After my disastrous weekend, I talked to three rental-car experts: All of them were familiar with the phenomenon of the surprise EV, a result of how much the industry is leaning into electric cars...."
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74 comments:
This is fake news. I have been told repeatedly the push for EVs and the customer demand for them is totally organic. Millions of customers have been beating on the corporate doors at auto-mfg HQs demanding an EV future. Numerous CEOs have received death threats.
The author is a liar. Someone needs to be cancelled.
I'm surprised at Hertz; but then they seem to be going the way of a lot of public-facing companies - they do not exist to provide a customer a service (they never did, but these companies are not hiding it, anymore).
I can't read it since it is behind a paywall, but did Hertz not disclose at any point that they might select an EV as one of the options for Desai? If yes, then Desai is to blame for not reading the agreement- otherwise, Hertz is to blame is behaving stupidly. You don't fuck your customers over this way if you have any intelligence at all.
I am leaning towards Hertz surprising their customers this way- it would dovetail with what we see in corporate America on other social issues- the belief that certain behaviors need to forced down the throats of the customer base- in this case, "good" EVs vs "bad" ICEs. In any case, Desai should have just gone back to the counter and got another car.
It would simpler to say that electric vehicles are poor ambassadors for the change our betters want to implement.
Brown stuff, meet spinning blades.
This is going to be an unbelievably expensive fiasco. Thanks for posting the story, I will start looking for ways to short the stock of rental car companies.
The car makers are pushing EVs on a consumer that doesn't want the expensive and unreliable EV.
The reason for this is that the car manufacturers make a much higher gross margin off of a higher selling price compared to ICE. And, of course, federal tax law favors EVs.
My view is that EVs are going to make the Edsel and Pinto look like a walk in the park.
Are car rental companies like "pouncing" Republicans?
When EV's disappoint, the story is car rental companies are "ruining" EVs.
Under normal circumstances, politicians would be scrambling to get in front of the cameras to decry big, greedy companies for trapping vulnerable consumers with such obviously sub-standard services. Funny how this works.
what about saying: NO
???
Baby, it's cold outside. It's hot inside. Roll over the hills and into the valleys. 15 minutes for a short hop super charge, one and more for a complete charge. Baby, remember the tortoise and the hare.
Baby's got a massive battery. Watch for weight limits. #NoJudgment #NoLabels
Lean in.
"Car-Rental Companies Are Ruining EVs/Surprise electric vehicles are not ambassadors for change"
Actually, they are exposing the real disadvantages of EVs and exposing the folly of change before progs can complete the coercive transformation of the car industry. Bad, bad companies. Good, good EVs. Stupid, stupid yahoos.
I've been assigned rental cars with flat tires, and flat spares, rental cars drained of oil, rental cars with suspiciously blood-like stains in the back seats. Those weren't accepted. I've also gotten a brand new Tahoe with 90 miles on the odometer in winter in the Rocky Mountains, a Fiat in Italy that made me think I was a race car driver, and a Saab in Boston that had downtown thugs walking up to me at stop lights, to see if the doors were all locked (they were). Getting a rental car is an adventure!
But getting a rental car that is not powered by gas or diesel is an immediate refusal from me.
After reading the excerpt and the paragraph available for non-subscribers all I can think is that that was a really dumb thing to do. The only reason to do something that dumb is if you're planning to write an article about it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WhatWereYouThinking/ is an empty sub. This would be a good first post.
And yet another "right-wing conspiracy theory" is proving to be true, to wit:
1) "Russian Collusion" was a Clinton/Deep State/media fraud.
2) The lab-leak hypothesis was not xenophobia but the most likely COVID cause.
3) The Hunter Biden laptop is real and contains damning evidence pointing to the President.
And now:
4) Green Energy as currently pursued is pretty much a delusion and a scam. (They hate natural gas and nuclear, but love those subsidies.)
I can see I'll have to find some new conspiracy theories...
Who would have ever imagined that having the government force its preferences on people could lead to problems?
EV's are dumb.
and cruel. Very cruel. But the Chinese do not care. Nor does Crook chi-com daddy $$$ Biden.
NPR says what?
I have rejected EVs at Hertz. No thanks
Cobalt mining in the Congo.
ChiComs pointing the guns. Forced slavery. The same evil leaders of China who make the Biden's rich.
The same Chinese who will most assuredly take Taiwan in a hostile bloody take-over while Crook mob-kingpin Husk-Biden is at the helm.
You'd think The White Left American leftists in America would care? They do not.
And yet- EV enthusiasts insist that for 90% of all daily use, EVs are just perfect. They're not and never will be.
OTOH- hybrids for daily use and long trips are great. Got about 42 MPG travelling at >80 MPH- with the flow of traffic, since the posted speed limit isn't really the speed limit in eastern seaboard states- which is pretty good. Right now, with warmer rather, in my daily commute I've averaging over 50 MPG. Over the winter I was only getting 44-45 MPG. In an EV I'd be worried about whether I could get to work and back (70 miles round trip) if it were 0°F and snowing. No worries with a full gas tank. Or even a half full gas tank, or a quarter full. Starting the trip with a quarter full EV charge would be suicide.
A company’s job is to serve its customers, not try to convert them.
I guess they didn't get the Tesla.
I dreaded this when we rented a car for 2 months in Australia this winter. Try and find a charging station in the Outback. To improve our odds, we avoided Hertz (because they're supposed to be the worst offender) and we took the train 6 hours from Sydney to where we rented the car. Didn't get an EV, thank God.
(cont). We did get a hybrid, but that was fine. Hybrids don't force you to sit in some strange parking lot for an hour charging your car, or worse, strand you.
There's a market opportunity here. Promise customers they won't get an EV and people will flock to you. I certainly would, no matter the price.
“Ruining” = “revealing what it’s really like to own an EV thus saving potential victims.”
These are great, potentially planet-saving machines
says WHO? seriously.. SAYS WHO??
after four hours of charging, the car had added a measly 70 miles to its range—
drivers learn to compulsively check EV charging apps
Not even an hour later, though, somewhere on I-80, a ding erupted from the dashboard:
Only 20 miles left on the charge. So much for that.
these "Great machines" are SO GREAT; that people will only buy them under penalty of law.
Think i'm kidding? The government is REQUIRING that
a) companies make them
b) companies sell ONLY them
and soon!
c) people not be allowed to purchase ANY thing else.
THAT is how "great" these "machines" are
Hurricane Rita left Texas customers in the dark for 16 days; Katrina knocked out power to Mississippi customers for 15 days; Wilma and Ike knocked Florida and Texas out for 14 days each before power was restored to 95 percent of those who lost it, according to the federal data.
About 130 years ago, automobiles came onto the scene. Some were powered by fossil fuel, others with electricity. Fossil fuel models quickly won out, becoming the standard for over a century. And for good reason. You think it's hard finding a charger now? Imagine how hard it would have been to find one in 1903. Our ancestors were very practical people.
Oh! and Don't forget!
Once, ALL GAS machines are BANNED..
The government will ban
Coal power plants
Oil Power plants
Natural Gas power plants
Hydro power plants
Nuclear power plants
wind farms
solar power plants
BUT! do NOT worry! the Inner Party members will Still retain their Limos, and Jets.
It's Just you proles that will be walking.. Walking to the gruel kitchens with your bowl and spoon*
Bowl and spoon* Bowls and spoons are NEXT on the list of banned products
Thanks Ann for this psa.
I know that some companies rent electric cars. But so far they have always been a separate category.
I wonder what my recourse is if they try to stick me with one if I have reserved something else?
When I once tried to refuse an suv when I had reserved a sedab (because I want a locking trunk) I was told I had to take it and had to pay for it even if I didn't.
I have no desire to rent an ev.
John lgb Henry
Thanks Ann for this psa.
I know that some companies rent electric cars. But so far they have always been a separate category.
I wonder what my recourse is if they try to stick me with one if I have reserved something else?
When I once tried to refuse an suv when I had reserved a sedab (because I want a locking trunk) I was told I had to take it and had to pay for it even if I didn't.
I have no desire to rent an ev.
John lgb Henry
I've had multiple friends and colleagues experience this. Some of them have just said they want another car.
Probably worth paying for a higher class just in case
The plan is to make people need more electricity while providing less electricity. Lots of people voted for this. It shouldn't be a surprise.
I just rented a car for next weekend through Costco... the one I chose is from Alamo (VW Jetta). I was surprised that in the list of options from all of the rental companies that pulled up on the Costco web page in $$ order, EV's were the lowest cost option! Now, seeing this article, I can understand the manipulation going on in the background.
Needless to say, I cringed seeing the EV's at the top of the list and quickly scrolled down to select a nice, cool ICE.
what about saying: NO
This happened to me. The option was to be left without a car.
In NY cars with ICEs will begin to be phased out, by state mandate, in 2025, and will not be available for purchase after 2035. California has a similar schedule and indications are we will have an equivalent federal law soon. For those us that live In multi family dwellings in a big city, with no driveway or garage, our only realistic option will be to keep our ICE cars as long as they will run. If they let us.
From the article:
"These are great, potentially planet-saving machines, but the ordeal made me want to wage a slash-and-burn campaign against all of them."
EVs can potentially save the planet (says the writer), but he was inconvenienced and that's what's important, right? So- others should embrace them (to save the planet, you know) but it's okay for the author to drive ICEs as he chooses because his time is valuable.
Perhaps the writer's next column could be on self-awareness.
Also from the article:
"They are far easier to maintain than conventional cars, containing a tiny fraction of the moving parts."
I own a Nissan Rogue, it has 140,000+ miles on it. Maintenance required? Oil changes, brakes and tires. An oil change takes less time than it does to charge an EV and I presume EVs have brakes and tires that require occasional servicing.
So there's that.
Duke Dan said...
A company’s job is to serve its customers, not try to convert them.
What, On EARTH, are you talking about??
Don't you understand how fascism works?
A company’s job is to obey the government, literally.. to the last letter of their dictate.
If a company doesn't want to do their job.. Well, they'll find out what living in fascism is like
EVs are the lowest cost option, they are cheap to rent and cheap to "fill up".
But this is another one of those things where you get to save lots of money by paying for it with your own time.
Got about 42 MPG travelling at >80 MPH- with the
Big whoop.
My hyundai Elantra is pure ICE. Comparable in size comfort and features to a tesla. Better build quality probably and about half the price.
First 10,000 miles I had it I averaged over 40 mpg. Probably @50/50 city/expressway driving.
On a a trip to the other end of the island @75% expressway, 112 miles, I got 55.8mpg.
If a tesla costs $25m more, that is $3m/yr more than the hyundai over 8 years. For $3m I can buy an extra 900 gallons of gas. (@$3.20/gallon)
That's enough to drive 36,000 mile in air conditioned comfort. For free. Every year.
At the end of 8 years the hyundai will still run for another 10-12 years. The tesla battery will be expired and the car will have little or no value. Maybe even a negative value if it costs money for toxic disposal.
John LGB Henry
I might book an EV out of curiosity if I didn't have to go far, but otherwise they don't interest me and I would never buy one.
In '17 while in Paris I reserved a small car for some historic tourism, but what they had available was a hulking great diesel minibus by Skoda. I was going to my 1814 sites regardless, so I took it. It was not a bad handler for its size, but had the disconcerting habit of seeming to switch off at full stops.
I dubbed it my "40 and 8." I wouldn't doubt that the agencies conspire with the hotels to give out large vehicles to Americans. Our hotel had a tiny underground garage served by a miniscule spiral ramp and sure enough on the last day--literally on the way to DeGaulle--I scraped the side slightly. The guy at check-in found it of course and wanted to charge me, but I had bought the insurance. (Always buy the insurance.) My wife also discovered that it had GPS, of which fact I had been in blissful ignorance. Old fashioned me.
I rented from the big Euro company--whatsit? Can't recall.
It seems more and more every day that running a country on batteries is rocket science.
EVs are a solution in search of a reason beyond green religion and government subsidy greed.
I once rented a car and was given a manual transmission, despite explicitly requiring an automatic transmission. I had no idea how to drive the thing, and I didn't even try. Not the best thing to discover when your flight it late, it is midnight, and they literally have no cars with an automatic transmission on the lot (or barely any cars at all). It was sorted out, but it was not a fun time.
If I knew how to drive it, then it would have been great since all the options were fancy sports cars.
I've also been on the other end when I rented a standard car and got a Dodge Charger with automatic transmission instead.
Way off topic but I just finished bingeing season 3 of Happy Valley.
Does anyone else think Sgt Catherine Caewood (susan Lancashire) looks like our hostess?
Bear in mind all I have to go on is the photo in the blog profile.
Ann, this is meant as a compliment.
John LGB Henry
Since I retired and moved to "the country" I haven't had much occasion to rent cars (my practice was mostly during the Gasoline Age). I do remember one time when I went to my high school reunion a big rental-car company assigned me a "hybrid" in Providence RI. I told the clerk I didn't even know what that meant. He said, Don't worry: Treat it like a gas-powered car. I said Thank you "John Smith" (or whatever his name tag said), I'll remember that. It worked out fine.
Went to a seminar this morning where one of the featured speakers had this happen to him when he arrived in Atlanta yesterday, nothing left but Teslas. He was faced with a nearly 40 mile drive into and through the city then out I-75 to Kennesaw. In Friday afternoon Atlanta traffic. He had never driven one before. I don't think he was too happy about it.
Well, it was either that or a Dodge. Shudder.....
I hired a hybrid Corolla recently. This is probably the best model for a rental. Very fuel efficient, and no range anxiety. It felt a little odd at first, but the engine/battery management just does its thing and you stop noticiing after a while.
Do more of this and make folks "deniers".
The author of the article is lucky that he didn't get arrested for grand theft auto because Hertz's messed up computer system didn't log the car back into the inventory when he returned it.
"First 10,000 miles I had it I averaged over 40 mpg. Probably @50/50 city/expressway driving."
My car is 11 years old. I took a trip last month and was keeping an eye on how it was doing, gasmileagewise. At one stop... 252 miles, 7.1 gallons to fill up. You can do the math (or not, I guess).
And for the record, I forgot to mention having to replace a battery in my earlier post. Sorry about that. An additional maintenance expense of course, but as with the oil changes, it's quicker to do than to recharge an EV's battery.
"An oil change takes less time than it does to charge an EV"
Excellent point. I haven't seen this pointed out before, but I'll sure repeat it to others. I change the oil in our vehicles once a year.
"I once rented a car and was given a manual transmission, despite explicitly requiring an automatic transmission. I had no idea how to drive the thing, and I didn't even try."
It ain't rocket science.
Timely article. This exact thing just happened to me. But I welcomed it to have a chance to see if my opinion of EVs was misinformed. It emphatically wasn't.
Manager's special also. Hertz. In my case, a new Tesla 3, so as good as could be expected for such a trial.
Unbelievably, no basic instructions before you drive off. And surprise, these cars do not open, start, turn off, or drive like normal cars. It's more like a computer with wheels. I seriously studied an online manual that evening just to have some idea of how to operate it. That was the good part.
But the real revelation was the charging. Turns out there were only 3 Tesla supercharging lots within 50 miles. And surprise again, none allowed you to charge to more than 80%. And it lost 40% charge every day driving about 50 miles a day. Talk about range anxiety.
Conclusion: the range estimates for EVs are a total lie, and you can't even fully charge them.
Confirmed: EVs are a massive fraud and this country is going to have a catastrophe of it proceeds with this mandated transition to EVs.
Are you supposed to bring the EV back with with a full charge? (screw that)
OK, let's suppose some form of dependable generation is found using "renewables". Let's assume the grid is massively strengthened. Let's assume batteries are tremendously improved in:
- Recharge time
- Range
- Safety (don't catch fire)
- Recycling ability
Let's assume the number and locations of charging stations grow exponentially. And let's assume the problem of apartment complexes, etc is fixed.
Let's assume the cost of an EV becomes (at least) competitive with an ICE w/o government subsidy.
Let's assume we can mine the various rare minerals, in sufficient quantities, needed for this change w/o slave labor, ocean destruction of vast amounts of land.
why then if ALL these unlikely events come to pass, I would CONSIDER an EV.
I'll wait over here.
I listened to a radio station announcing a monstrous sum being spent by GM at their Fort Wayne pick-um-up truck plant to install new lines for all versions of Chevy/GMCs of the next internal combustion pickups designed for one-vehicle owners. EVs are largely being supplemented by a required gasoline vehicle but: "GM intends to be a leader in EV production."
For when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow and driverless vehicles have not arrived, I suppose. GM was going to be the leader of the pack for driverless transportation as well.
Lest we forget, China was first caught trying to hack into a U.S. electric grid in California as far back as 2001, and the Russians have been in U.S. grids since 2014.
I listened to a radio station announcing a monstrous sum being spent by GM at their Fort Wayne pick-um-up truck plant to install new lines for all versions of Chevy/GMCs of the next internal combustion pickups designed for one-vehicle owners. EVs are largely being supplemented by a required gasoline vehicle but: "GM intends to be a leader in EV production."
For when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow and driverless vehicles have not arrived, I suppose. GM was going to be the leader of the pack for driverless transportation as well.
Lest we forget, China was first caught trying to hack into a U.S. electric grid in California as far back as 2001, and the Russians have been in U.S. grids since 2014.
Hurricane Rita left Texas customers in the dark for 16 days; Katrina knocked out power to Mississippi customers for 15 days; Wilma and Ike knocked Florida and Texas out for 14 days each before power was restored to 95 percent of those who lost it, according to the federal data.
And your point is? You ever try to find an open gas station during a wide spread power outage? Gas pumps run on electricity. Gas stations with their own backup power are few and far between.
I think we've reached peak EV.
Hybrids are a far more practical near term alternative. Many newer hybrids are getting 50 mpg with none of the downsides of EV's.
And more and more smart people outside of politics and academia are seeing hydrogen as the longer term solution. Not just because of "climate change" but because of its almost limitless availability and high energy density (3X that of gasoline on a mass basis)
Nope. Hand them the keys. I was President's circle with Hertz when working & I was always upgraded & had a Navigator or Jag waiting under my name in lights. LOL
EVs are a solution in search of a reason beyond green religion and government subsidy greed.
But in terms of green religion, they still are not an actual solution.
Another example of the old maxim, You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken poop
Recently we were given a Prius for a one-way rental during which we were going to be driving about 900 miles in a day, through a lot of nothing studded with a few small towns. My son arranged the rental and was the one paying, so the only way I weighed in was to ask mildly, "Did you ask for a Prius?" "No," said this young man who just bought a slightly used full EV, though he lives in an apartment with nowhere to charge it (it'll be almost entirely for commuting; what he'll do about trips to the mountains and such remains to be seen).
In short - hated the Prius as a car, loved the hybrid part. In almost 900 miles, we spent something like $75 on gas - and this was driving through the West, where gas is 50-100% more expensive than it is in Texas. The Prius's instrument display was both bad and annoying, the gear shift was bizarre, it had no guts, there was a thick line horizontally across the driver's field of view in the rearview mirror because of the way its hatch is designed, the back seat space was tiny, and it gave no ready indication of whether we'd left its lights or the whole damn car on when we stopped... but our gas mileage was excellent and its very long range saved us at least one stop on this long driving day, maybe two. And indeed, you don't charge it - driving charges it - so all you have to do is gas up at any normal gas station, ten minutes in and out including bathroom breaks.
Why Toyota - Toyota! - would decide that in addition to introducing the first major name in hybrids, it was also going to change a bunch of normal car things so as to confuse and frustrate drivers, I don't know. But it did make me think I would consider a hybrid that was well designed.
If I can get over the environmental cost of the batteries, that is.
And your point is? You ever try to find an open gas station during a wide spread power outage? Gas pumps run on electricity. Gas stations with their own backup power are few and far between.
Well, I don't know the original commenter's point, but mine would be that when a hurricane is coming, I can fill up my Explorer and expect to be able to drive about 500 miles without stopping, which, from where I live, can get me out of the range of the power outages and still have fuel left for things like finding food and a place to sleep and probably even getting back home.
My son just bought an EV in southern California just before moving to Seattle. We assumed he'd have the car transported up north, but no, he wanted to drive it. He had to stop to charge for at least half an hour (if a charger was available and if it was working) every 190 miles or less. Do that when you and thousands of others are evacuating, with traffic building every minute behind you - you do not want to stop moving.
Conversely, conditions permitting, I could shelter in place in a hurricane without worrying that if it flooded where my car was, the car would burn so hot that it almost couldn't be put out (even assuming the fire department could respond!) - heaven forbid it was in my garage, as I would then be homeless for the duration of the emergency. And, if it didn't flood, I could easily manage my fuel consumption to last out the outages, even if I had to drive 20-40 miles a day to get to whatever I needed (we don't have a generator, so when we get sick of pantry food we look for a grocery store whose generators are still working or that has its power back on). My son couldn't do that; he'd have to manage his range much more conservatively and leave enough at the end to get to a functional charging station, along with all the other EV owners who can't charge at home.
Those would be my points.
"But in terms of green religion, they still are not an actual solution."
They are a step towards the green solution.
1. Substitute EVs for ICEs.
2. Recognize that the ability to charge them all does not exist.
3. Restrict private ownership of vehicles.
The goal is to significantly reduce the number of cars and force everyone (well, all the little people, anyway) to use mass transit.
I've built 50Amp wiring for EV charging into the garages of the last several houses I built, and over the past 4 years none of them have been used. They remain a blank plate with "50AMP" labels on the garage wall. Eventually the houses will have owners with an EV, and they'll appreciate the cost and effort I put into making their homes so readily usable for charging stations. I was stupid to do so, as a builder, as no potential buyer ever noticed the line item about EV charging in the house description and no buyer had an EV. Ahead of my time, I guess. Perhaps I should have petitioned the leftist Austin City Council to allow for builder grants for EV wiring in new homes, the potential graft off such a program would appeal to them.
"I talked to three rental-car experts ... "
Is there a qualifying exam that leads to the title, "rental-car expert"?
"Car-Rental Companies Are Ruining EVs/Surprise electric vehicles are not ambassadors for change"
Surprise! Car-rental companies are ruining their businesses by p---ing off their customers?
Surprise! Some renters prefer EVs.
Surprise! Some renters don't care.
Surprise! Not all renters are the same.
"I talked to three rental-car experts ... "
Is there a qualifying exam that leads to the title, "rental-car expert"?
"Car-Rental Companies Are Ruining EVs/Surprise electric vehicles are not ambassadors for change"
Surprise! Car-rental companies are ruining their businesses by p---ing off their customers?
Surprise! Some renters prefer EVs.
Surprise! Some renters don't care.
Surprise! Not all renters are the same.
Freder Frederson said...
...
And your point is? You ever try to find an open gas station during a wide spread power outage? Gas pumps run on electricity. Gas stations with their own backup power are few and far between.
There are several near me in CNY with backup power. Most of them got it after the big ice storm a few years back.
And most people up here, me included, have a minimum of one filled 5 gallon gasoline container at all times. Rotated and used on a regular basis if you're smart about it.
Kind of tough to store the 5 gallon equivalent of gasoline in electricity.
"And your point is?"
Providing data.
But here's the deal. My 1994 F150 holds 40 gallons of gas in two tanks. It gets 10 mpg in the City. That's 400 miles. It gets 16 on the highway. That's 600 miles. If I'm in Manhattan and the power goes out, I can drive to Pittsburgh (374 miles) and simply avoid the entire mess back in NY. Hell, I can drive to Detroit. Can a Tesla do that?
"Kind of tough to store the 5 gallon equivalent of gasoline in electricity."
Get a second Tesla and always keep the battery charged. Problem solved.
Of course, getting that electricity into your first Tesla will be a challenge, but at least you're being green, right?
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